Tail Rotor Failure... Have you had one?
Yep, a 3B1, and I do believe that it's been the topic of a thread before.
Exciting? yes. cause for panic? no, as long as bits haven't departed the good ol C of G.
Pulling up out of the trees after chasing mooies, felt and heard a bang, everything starts moving rapidly sideways. trees are close, but by now I'm about 15 feet above 40 foot trees.
Can i go or do I stay? I says to myself as the scenary is blurring, I say damnit you'se staying and you'se gotta do it right now, with the feed stick ol' son.
There was a small space not far away below, lever is right down, wait, wait, jerk the lot. just bent the cross tubes a bit.
Rule # 1 Things don't stop spinning when you chop the throttle, only slow down a bit.
Still spinning quite some when we touched down, and steered it successfully around the flat for a while. Jumped out, the blessed forward short shaft had jumped out of its rear spline and was still bobbing around on the grease boot fabric, too short or something.
I was doing a double, the pilot with me was only a very short distance away and watched it all, he remarked later that he had said to himself in very droll terms, he was an extremely funny dry type of bloke,"Boy is he gunna crash!"
Worst part was about midnight that night back at base which was about half an hour away in the F/W the phone starts ringing. Some busy body dude in Canberra has been talking to some dude in FSU who has been talking to some dude in a F27 doing a night freight run.
This was way, way before satellite ELT tracking, and what would we know about a signal going off right about where my helicopter is. Wellll arrrrr, yessir the damm orange little box turnout musta gone off.
It had been flung out and we hadn't seen it when walking around at the time and sure it was doing it's little thing until we went back next morning.